BAC Rutland

CHICAGO — Like seeing-eye dogs for the blind, trained dogs are now being used to help autistic children deal with their disabilities. But some schools want to keep the animals out, and families are fighting back.

Two autistic elementary school students recently won court orders in Illinois allowing their dogs to accompany them to school. Their lawsuits follow others in California and Pennsylvania over schools’ refusal to allow dogs that parents say calm their children, ease transitions and even keep the kids from running into traffic. (more…)

We think of autism as a childhood syndrome, and treatment for the disorder is largely centered in pediatrics. But kids with autism grow up to be adults with autism, which raises a complex set of issues.

So we were interested to learn that Mass. General, one of the nation’s most famous hospitals, is about to launch a new comprehensive program aimed at treating adults. The program will be funded by a $29 million gift from a family foundation in Massachusetts that often funds autism research, the Boston Globe reports. (more…)

Federal law first insisted in 1975 that public schools educate disabled students. Since then, the portion of students receiving special education services has increased 64%. Today, 13.5% of all public school students have been diagnosed with a disability. Special education, it turns out, is no longer particularly special at all.
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The “aging of America” extends far beyond urban boundaries; 25 percent of all U.S. “elders” live in rural communities, a panel recently told the Vermont Farm Health Task Force at its quarterly meeting. Those who actively continue to farm exhibit the effects of an exceptionally vigorous life combined with a lack of relevant health care opportunities and access.
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Four years after Hurricane Katrina exposed major deficiencies in the capacity of governments to evacuate and care for the disabled during a natural disaster, America’s most vulnerable citizens are barely considered in most emergency plans, according to a report being issued Wednesday by the National Council on Disability.
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In July 2009, the percentage of people with disabilities in the labor force was 23.0 compared with 71.8 for persons with no disability. The unemployment rate for those with disabilities was 15.1 percent, compared with 9.5 percent for persons with no disability, not seasonally adjusted.
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The United States Department of Labor, office of Disability Employment Policy has released a new brochure titled, Employer Perspectives on Employment of Employees with Disabilities.

The brochure, which is available in Word or PDF format at http://www.dol.gov/odep, features a survey of 3,797 businesses representing 2.4 million companies across 12 industry section and various company sizes.
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FRANKLIN FURNACE, Ohio — The teenager in the padded smock sat in his solitary confinement cell here in this state’s most secure juvenile prison and screamed obscenities.

The youth, Donald, a 16-year-old, his eyes glassy from lack of sleep and a daily regimen of mood stabilizers, was serving a minimum of six months for breaking and entering. Although he had received diagnoses for psychiatric illnesses, including bipolar disorder, a judge decided that Donald would get better care in the state correctional system than he could get anywhere in his county.
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Dear Senator:

I write on behalf of the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) to express our strong support for the confirmation of Judge Sonia Sotomayor as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. After extensive review of Judge Sotomayor’s disability-related rulings from her career as a trial judge and appeals court judge, along with her public statements in speeches and in interviews, AAPD’s bipartisan Board of Directors voted unanimously to support (more…)

From the Education Week’s On Special Education Blog:

Education Secretary Arne Duncan has asked state education chiefs to review their policies on restraints and seclusion of students, and develop or revise policies as necessary to assure children are safe.
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